(no subject)
Watching the election from outside of the US is a very strange and interesting thing. Granted Puerto Rico is a US territory and they get to vote in the primaries, but they do not vote for the president and they do not see themselves as Americans.
Beginning of Thursday of last week there were cars driving around the island with people waving flags outside of their cars and honking their horns. At first we didn’t get it since it was only a few cars every few blocks, but by Friday we began to understand what was going on…it was getting closer to the election. Friday at noon up till last night at midnight cars were driving around with one of 2 different types of flags waving out of the window. The amazing thing is the amount of people out in cars just driving for hours, playing music, screaming out their windows, sunroofs, sitting on the window of the cars and waving the flags. It was not a parade, it was not even an organized event, it was purely people out in droves voicing their beliefs. The traffic jams they created were massive, but what was amazing was no one was angry for being stuck in the middle of the cars and flags. They would talk to each other, debate ideas while stuck. They flipped off the other party or would shout and cheer at the people who were aligned with the same party they were. It has been loud chaos on the island for 5 days, but what I have learned while being here is that this is what they do for each and every election they have. It seemed to be as an outsider that they still relish the privilege that they have about voting. Voting is important here and about 85% of the population votes and they also get the day off to vote. Granted the island was dry (no alcohol) from 9pm Monday till 9pm on Tuesday, but that did not stop the celebrations and the joy people were expressing in their ability to vote and the parties they believed in.
When you ask about what parties they have here you do not get an answer of oh same as the states, Republican and Democratic. The parties are actually defined and aligned by how they want Puerto Rico to interact with the US. One party that supports an alliance with the US (PNP) and they are the ones who won yesterday. , which is generally the younger generation here and the other was the party (PDP) that is against becoming the 51st state of the US.
They also have a hybrid voting system here which you can vote by party, by candidate or both. What this means you can vote for your party and your vote will just mark everyone with the party as a yes vote. You can choose and select each candidate and therefore both in all parties or you can mix it and vote with a party for a certain area and by candidate in another area.
I am glad the election is over and it is now quieter here on the island. I am thankful for seeing elections through other eyes while casting my ballot in early stateside.
Beginning of Thursday of last week there were cars driving around the island with people waving flags outside of their cars and honking their horns. At first we didn’t get it since it was only a few cars every few blocks, but by Friday we began to understand what was going on…it was getting closer to the election. Friday at noon up till last night at midnight cars were driving around with one of 2 different types of flags waving out of the window. The amazing thing is the amount of people out in cars just driving for hours, playing music, screaming out their windows, sunroofs, sitting on the window of the cars and waving the flags. It was not a parade, it was not even an organized event, it was purely people out in droves voicing their beliefs. The traffic jams they created were massive, but what was amazing was no one was angry for being stuck in the middle of the cars and flags. They would talk to each other, debate ideas while stuck. They flipped off the other party or would shout and cheer at the people who were aligned with the same party they were. It has been loud chaos on the island for 5 days, but what I have learned while being here is that this is what they do for each and every election they have. It seemed to be as an outsider that they still relish the privilege that they have about voting. Voting is important here and about 85% of the population votes and they also get the day off to vote. Granted the island was dry (no alcohol) from 9pm Monday till 9pm on Tuesday, but that did not stop the celebrations and the joy people were expressing in their ability to vote and the parties they believed in.
When you ask about what parties they have here you do not get an answer of oh same as the states, Republican and Democratic. The parties are actually defined and aligned by how they want Puerto Rico to interact with the US. One party that supports an alliance with the US (PNP) and they are the ones who won yesterday. , which is generally the younger generation here and the other was the party (PDP) that is against becoming the 51st state of the US.
They also have a hybrid voting system here which you can vote by party, by candidate or both. What this means you can vote for your party and your vote will just mark everyone with the party as a yes vote. You can choose and select each candidate and therefore both in all parties or you can mix it and vote with a party for a certain area and by candidate in another area.
I am glad the election is over and it is now quieter here on the island. I am thankful for seeing elections through other eyes while casting my ballot in early stateside.